Proper 9C                R Lundquist                           7/8/07

Luke 10:1-12, 16-20   http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=50840088

“Why are you a Christian?” 

Phillips Brooks, the Episcopal priest and preacher most widely known for penning O Little Town of Bethlehem said:  “I am a Christian because of my aunt who lives in Teaneck, NJ.”

Thomas Tallis said,  “A Christian is someone who knows one.”

Author Madeleine L’Engle has written:  “If I have faith it is because I have met faith; I have seen it ins action.  And this faith is never a vague, pie-in-the-sky kind of think but made real in a person of faith.”

            That’s why Jesus sent the 70 instead of writing a book: 

Faith is caught – it’s contagious.  And Jesus knew it.

At this point in the Gospel of Luke Jesus has set his face toward Jerusalem – he is single-minded.  He is focused on his mission.  He is accepting no excuses or procrastination – those who need to bury the dead or bid farewell to family are not ready to follow. 

So he sends the 70 disciples. 

They have:

• no qualifications (like seminary training or high scores on aptitude tests…)

• scant training (this instructions are tips like “travel light, don’t count on a 1-800-SUPPORT number, stay focused on the mission, and no anger or arguing between yourselves or with others…”)

• each other…  Jesus sends them in pairs – to bear witness (legally it took 2 witnesses to attest to the truth); and to support each other (how many of us fail at solo undertakings like diets and exercise routines?)

• a simple message – “peace.”  Whose home doesn’t need peace?

• a commission to respond to peoples’ needs –  to heal & and to give good news (“the kingdom has come near to you this day!”).

And thus the 70 are moved from being “followers” to being “Providers” of the Gospel!

          They are to be themselves

                        They are to let God happen through them

For the Kingdom comes from God through humans committed to Jesus!

                 H King Oehmig in Synthesis 7/8/2007

This is the difference between being members of the church and being the Church.

            Christianity is meant to be more of a movement than an organization

                        Jesus didn’t intent to start a religion, a structure,

                                    but to call people to move nearer to God.

He sent out the 70 in 2’s (sound like God’s instructions to Noah?)

            – and the sending continues, including US!

            And note:  the 70 returned in joy, with Good News to tell…

This is the basis of our worship, the reason we gather today – returning in joy at providing the Gospel!  With wonder, excitement, assurance… and faith, strengthened by witness…

And let us never neglect to witness and pray in expectation:

There’s a true story told of the farming county gripped by a terrible drought.  The crops were parched, the flocks and herds were dying, and the economy was circling the drain.  The most prominent preacher in town was asked to lead a revival, brining the community together in prayer for rain.  The day came, the people gathered, the preacher mounted the dais.  Looking out at the crowd he cried out, “Oh ye of little faith!”   The people were dumbfounded – is this any way to pray for rain?   “Oh ye of little faith!” he repeated.    “We’re here to pray for rain, and not one of you has brought an umbrella!”

 

Witness and pray in expectation.  For God is faithful, true to the promise…

Jesus gave the 70 no evangelism plan, no preaching lessons, no communication workshops, no psychological techniques, no “spin” coaching, and just 2 talking points…

But He taught them to pray. 

That was enough. 

That was everything. 

God does the rest, changing hearts. 

[I’m intentionally using the language of witness & testimony, even though we Episcopalians are intensely uncomfortable with them.  For they have a technical legal meaning – to tell the truth as you know it, without trying to persuade the jury or the judge.  You are charged to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  We are to let God do the persuading…]

All this is true today, for us – not just long ago & far away.

We’re not called to be “perfect & holier-than-thou.” 

Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple famously said that “Christianity is merely one beggar telling another beggar where to find food.”  That is the way to share faith – humbly testifying to the truth of what God has done for you, in your life.

Jesus sent the 70, and sends us – to touch, to be real, and to be aware.  The truth of the Gospel, the Good News, is that the kingdom comes near another through you – being yourself and letting God happen through you.

            Why are you a Christian? 

            I bet it’s because another follower-become-proclaimer has touched you.

Why are you a Christian? 

Be the answer to that question for someone else.       

                                                                                                Amen.